Good Samaritan jumps into action, pulls Apache Junction man out of burning RV

APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz. - A man is being hailed as a hero after saving an Apache Junction man from a burning trailer last month.

The man Adrian Garcia saved is still sedated in the hospital with burns to over 15% of his body, but doctors told the family that if he spent another five minutes in that trailer, it would have been too late.

Right place, right time

"I was driving down Main Street, Apache Trail and noticed smoke in the distance," he said.

Garcia pulled over and immediately ran to the trailer park. He heard a woman screaming that a man named Brad was still inside. 

However, access to the park was blocked by a six-foot wall.

"At that point, I'm like, I've got to get him out," Garcia said. "I ran across the street against the officer's orders, controlling the crowd - she told me not to jump the wall, but I told her, 'Don't worry ma'am. I'm a professional,' and I jumped over the wall."

He found a door to the RV and managed to get inside.

"And sure enough, there's a male laying on the floor on his back right in front of the doorway, and I try to lift him up, but he's a big guy," Garcia said. "So I wedged my feet into the doorway [which] gave me some leverage and yanked him out, and we both fell out of the trailer onto the floor."

Grateful reunion

Now, a month after the fire, Brad's family was able to meet Adrian.

"I was taken aback by his bravery," said Adrianna Herch, the mother of Brad's children. "A random person pulling off on the street and hopping a wall - and to know there's still people out there like that is comforting."

Brad is still in the hospital and has a long road to recovery, but doctors say he wouldn't have made it if he stayed in that trailer for another five minutes.

Adrian says he doesn't consider himself a hero.

"No, no," he said. "Just right place, right time."

But to Brad's family, he will always be their hero. 

"To know that I made a difference for them…just to see them happy makes me happy," Garcia said.

Support the family's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-4-brad